“Whoops,” I thought, and rushed to the other side of the staircase to enter the other restroom, which I presumed was the ladies’ room.

There, I saw another young man at a sink. “Hmmm,” I thought. “I guess both of these restrooms are for everyone.” I proceeded to use a private cubicle, and for the rest of the year never worried about which restrooms I could use. All were open to everyone.

Fast forward to today. Fifty years later, we Americans are still uptight about restrooms, and we are grappling with which one a transgender person should use. Why not simply have unisex restrooms as they do in France? Urinals as well as toilets could be in closed booths, affording men more privacy than they have now.

And here is the best thing: Women would not have to wait in long lines leading into the women’s room, while there is no line in front of the men’s room. This tactic avoids discrimination, lawsuits and long lines.

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gadfly371

That takes care of the lav. Now, what about locker/changing room?

Bill

In case your mind was wandering, it’s about a “bathroom” law, not a locker room law. Duh.

EJ

The new law applies to bathrooms and locker rooms.

reed1v

Do like they do in Norway. All unisex. Even the northern Germans have coed changing facilities. Not uncommon to see women and men change their cloths in public, all their cloths. Nudity, get over it already.

Nod Nostrebor

What debate? Did I miss something?

notspot

Most of the time…

lost sheep

Once women see what men do to the toilet seat and how often they miss entirely these days I don’t think they will be happy

Free D-Money and Shifty!!

on the same note i dont want to see what women do in their especially when a certain time of month rolls around–such a bad and stupid idea from this woman

CMAA

Then quit peeking in the stalls.,…..

PAA727

So you’ve never lived under the same roof with women?

smosh

women are icky! EWWWWWWWWW

Scott Harriman

He probably banishes them to the barn during that time of the month, as God intended.

ClipperFreedom

Oh man, there goes my iced coffee all over my keyboard!

kenindy

Hell. They will be outraged when the seats are left up!!!

Free D-Money and Shifty!!

does this woman really think unisex bathrooms are a good idea???

BHShaman

Went to England as a H.S. student and their bathrooms and showers were unisex.
Went to college in the States, their bathroom and showers were unisex.
Went to the workplace as an employee and all the bathrooms are unisex.

BFD.
Use the bathroom for YOURSELF and ignore everyone else, as you should.

PPHisbiased

This also pertains to locker rooms and showers in schools. I do not want someone with male anatomy showering with my 12 year old daughter

NoHushKit

So get rid of the stupid, archaic, unnecessary open-room showers. When I was in junior high and high school, I frequently saw the jock boys harassing, abusing, and assaulting the non-jock boys, and the gym teacher just laughed and never did anything about it.

And wouldn’t that also be the ideal solution for the parents who don’t want LGB kids looking at their precious little straight angels?

MaineBrookies

School are required to provide private facilities – both bathroom and locker room – for students who feel uncomfortable with the idea.

smosh

there’s probably another girl in the shower lusting LUSTING after your daughter. Should she have separate shower facilities? But the male-anatomied person is not checking out your daughter. See how silly this all is?

kenindy

I hope you spare your daughter the sight of your male appendages. You might want to see what she views on the Interwebs.

BHShaman

That boils it down. People are afraid of penis. And no one is suggesting open shower mixed gender bathrooms. Fear vs reality.

PortlandGenXer

The Author seems to be under the delusion that logic would work in today’s America.

That ship has sailed.

kenindy

Apparently perversion will be rife. Meanwhile, today’s male only facilities are so unsullied……

Scott Harriman

What gets me are the places that have two one-person bathrooms and still mark them separately for men and women. Only one person goes in at a time — why does their gender matter?

This sort of territorialism leads to very inefficient use of resources.

Softball dad

If all bathroom were just one holers then you would have a point, but they are not.

kenindy

This may be a reason: female facilities require facilities to disposed of sanitary matter that men do not require.

I am pleased that most male facilities of this nature also have a baby’s diaper changing facility.

ClipperFreedom

Can’t that requirement be met pretty simply/easily with a standard trash can? I’ve been in several restaurants in Portland that have unisex restrooms and I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Toilet, sink, soap dispenser, trash can, mirror, paper towels, hand dryer.

Scott Harriman

The “facility” is called a garbage can, which all men’s rooms should also be equipped with.

Another possible reason (which is actually the case at my office): the female employees are not satisfied with the male employees’ level of hygiene. We have been forbidden from using the single-occupancy women’s room, even if it is empty.

ClipperFreedom

A lot of guys have pretty bad aim. My mom trained me at a very young age to point it into the toilet bowl, not the floor or the wall. 😉

sequoiaqueneaux

There is no debate. Everything was fine when transgendered people used the bathrooms they felt safe and comfortable in. Then perverted and dirty-minded conservatives decided to make it an issue because they are obsessed with people going to the bathroom. Sick.

funfundvierzig

We are more than mildly curious:

Does Victoria mind undressing and showering with a paunchy middle-age man, fully equipped with male organs, male chromosomes and male DNA, if in his mind, he thinks he’s a girl and identifies with girls (The President’s qualifying test to invade women’s private quarters)? …funfun..

NoHushKit

So what you’re saying is that a trans man (a person who was born female but has transitioned to male, and still has female genitalia) should use the ladies room, even though he has a beard and moustache and a flat chest and a deep voice and is visually indistinguishable from a man?

If you’re suggesting that people should use the restroom associated with their genitalia, then the above scenario is what you’re advocating for: trans men with beards and muscles and tattoos using the ladies room.

Think about it.

kenindy

fun fun does not think. It is only a troll. Don’t feed it.

ClipperFreedom

I know, I know. He just looked so hungry.

Softball dad

So your plan is to alienate a large portion of the public to accommodate an extremely small population of people? Makes sense to me.

PAA727

A perfectly logical and sensible solution, which is why the religious ideologues will rail against it.

rightwinga

Democrats are a strange bunch. Their whole being revolves around genitalia and raising taxes!

smosh

holy crap, you’re funny!

kenindy

I think you meant GOP, matey.

kenindy

I, too, have encountered these facilities (I hesitate to use the term ‘bathroom’ when a bath is not present) across the pond and find it actually more civilized and private than sharing a facility with my own gender. There is something civilizing when men are in the presence of women, and children are much safer when females are present in such places. By the way, public changing rooms there are the same : unisex, with cubicles , usually women one side, men the other, and family in between. There are always attendants present.

Thistle

Anyone who has spent any time at all traveling in Europe and other parts of the world knows this unisex toilet, locker and shower room arrangement is ubiquitous.

In fact, I encountered many places in Germany where it was prohibited to wear clothing in public pools/baths and everyone -man, woman or child – changed in the same room.

England, Scotland and Wales are more similar to the U.S. But, then, what would one expect from the birthplace of puritanism.

Cushing Samp

I couldn’t agree with you more. The absence of lines is enough to get my vote!

ClipperFreedom

If it’s clearly marked as a unisex bathroom, the mother should not be surprised and should have no reason to be screaming and making a scene.

If it’s marked as a female restroom, and trans men (people who were born female but have transitioned to male) are forced to use it — which is the consequence of what the genital police are proposing — then the mother would indeed be surprised and upset to see a man existing the ladies room. Which is why we should continue letting transgender people use the restrooms that correspond to their gender identity.

Do a Google search for Ben Melzer. He was born as a female, and has transitioned to male. If the genital police get their way, he would be forced to use the ladies room. Look at his pictures and tell me which restroom it makes the most sense for him to be using.